A Precious Gemstone Tender Auction from John Pye Luxury Assets

A Precious Gemstone Tender Auction from John Pye Luxury Assets

Small But Perfectly Formed

A Precious Gemstone Tender Auction from John Pye Luxury Assets

In response to growing market demand John Pye Luxury Assets will be holding their first Tender auction of Precious Gemstones on with lots ending at 3pm BST on Thursday 16th June.

The market for coloured gemstones has been growing steadily over the past few years, and this tender auction offers the gemstone jewellery designer, retailer and investor an opportunity to purchase high quality precious and semi-precious cut and polished stones.

The auction comprises a collection of 26 loose cut and polished natural Emeralds from the Southern African Kagem Old Mine, located in Zambia. After Columbia, Zambia is the world’s second biggest producer of Emerald, with its Kagem Mines, in the Kafubu River area, depositing around 20% of the world’s production of gem quality stones. During the last three years, Kagem has produced an average of 6.5 million carats of emeralds per annum.

The Kagem mine has a long history of Emerald production, with largescale emerald mining beginning in Zambia in 1976. Zambian emeralds are widely recognised for their own distinctive characteristics of excellent transparency, brilliance and a deep Emerald green colour. The 26 stones included in this sale are both square and oval cut, and carat weights range from approximately two to twenty carats.

The discovery of rubies in Mozambique in 2009 sent shockwaves through the gemstone industry. In the seven years since, an unparalleled quantity of high quality Rubies have entered the market. Having dominated the world’s major Ruby trading centre in Thailand they are now finding their way in to mainstream auctions.

A small group of six high quality natural, unheated Rubies from Mozambique will follow the Emerald stock, all of which come certificated by the International Gemmological Institute. Small but perfectly formed, the six Rubies are all approximately 1 carat, and are a mixture of Rectangular Cushion and Oval cuts.

The auction continues with another small consignment of natural blue, pink and orange Sapphires, and one Padmaraga or Padparadscha Sapphire. The seven gemstones originate from Sri Lanka, the island from which the most sought after Sapphires derive. Sri Lankan Sapphire, cornflower blue, or “cerulean” Sapphires specifically, have long been regarded as epitome of brilliance and quality. It is from Sri Lanka that the Sapphire belonging to the Duchess of Cornwall was originally derived, and it is one of the leading producers of Sapphires in the world. The stones range from 0.3 to five carats.

A selection of small fancy coloured and white diamonds comprise the final section of the auction. An area of the gemstone auction market that has grown significantly in the last five to 10 years, fancy coloured diamonds are now appreciated widely for their rarity and beauty. Of all the colours, the pink diamonds are the most sought after, and included in the sale are four, of various sizes and weights.

Public viewing of the items will be available at our Nottingham saleroom on Tuesday 14th June from 11am until 1pm, and at our Bond Street saleroom from 11am until 7pm on Wednesday 15th June, and from 11am until 2pm on Thursday 16th June. Lot photos, descriptions and bid submissions for the lots are now available at www.johnpye.co.uk/luxury

John Pye Luxury Assets tender sales work in a very similar way to our normal public auctions, you just need to leave your maximum ‘offer’ for any of the items, rather than an incremental bid. You will receive an email confirming receipt of your offer.